People would follow Gary Hemming anywhere: into bed, into trouble and up the most dangerous mountains in the world.

In 1966 Gary Hemming became the most famous man in France – an outsider, an American, no less, who defied the authorities with an audacious Alpine rescue: a daring DIY dash up notorious mountain the Dru.

In treacherous conditions, Hemming led his amateur climbers to unlikely heroics: up sheer cliff faces and through a lightning storm, to save the lives of people he didn’t even know. When he came down, he was lifted up: dubbed ‘Le Beatnik’ by the media, sucked into celebrity and away from what he loved. He couldn’t climb, he couldn’t cope. In 1969, he returned to America, to die – driven over the edge by his love/hate affair with fame. He climbed to escape the world, but couldn’t escape himself.

A Blue Hippo Media and Movie House Entertainment Co Production

Producers: Pip Piper / Mark Vennis / Laurent Tolleron / Nev Pierce

Script Written / Raising Finance

Writer / Director: Dominic Green
Co Writer: Mike Riddell

Due for filming Spring 2016

Below is a short documentary we made about Gary Hemming called “Le Beatnik” whilst we were researching the story for the feature film.